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A renowned physicist and philosopher, Étienne Klein, recently posted a picture of what he claimed to be a star in deep space.

The star in question was actually a slice of sausage, and he was later forced to apologise for misleading his followers.

Look at that detail

The 64-year-old Klein first tweeted the photo on Jul. 31. It was supposedly of the Proxima Centauri, the nearest-known star to the Sun, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

In the caption, he mused: "This level of detail… A new world is revealed day after day."

The mottled reds and whites looked rather convincing and the photo fooled thousands, garnering over 3,500 retweets and 19,500 likes.

Photo de Proxima du Centaure, l’étoile la plus proche du Soleil, située à 4,2 année-lumière de nous.
Elle a été prise par le JWST.
Ce niveau de détails… Un nouveau monde se dévoile jour après jour. pic.twitter.com/88UBbHDQ7Z

— Etienne KLEIN (@EtienneKlein) July 31, 2022

That is, until Klein posted a clarification the next day.

On Aug. 1, he revealed that the image was not of some far-flung cosmic object, but something much closer to home, and to our stomachs — the cross-section of a slice of chorizo, a type of spicy Spanish sausage.

"According to contemporary cosmology, no object belonging to Spanish charcuterie exists anywhere but on Earth," Klein said.

He also implied that when people are hungry, they give in to their cognitive biases.

Clarified that tweet was a joke

Later on the same day, Klein apologised for the joke, saying he felt "compelled to clarify" that the tweet was a "form of amusement".

Instead, he urged Twitter users to take this as a lesson to be "wary of arguments from authority".

Some netizens did not take too kindly to Klein's prank though, with several accusing him of spreading misinformation and causing mistrust of scientific figures of authority.

Others, however, saw the humour in Klein's tweet.

Several days after the online kerfuffle, Klein continued to apologise for his "hoax".

He also posted a snapshot of the Cartwheel Galaxy located around 500 million lightyears away, which he was quick to point out is "real this time".

Photo (VRAIE cette fois…) de la galaxie de la Roue du Chariot et de ses galaxies compagnes, prise par le JWST. Située à 500 millions d’années-lumière, elle fut sans doute spirale dans son passé, mais a pris cette étrange allure à la suite d’un furieux carambolage galactique. pic.twitter.com/vmiDjU1Gjt

— Etienne KLEIN (@EtienneKlein) August 3, 2022

Top photo from EtienneKlein / Twitter